Euro Group

BERLIN: Germany and France have proposed a full-time president for the euro group as they agreed to cooperate more closely to overcome the debt crisis and to kick-start growth and job creation in the single currency area. At a meeting in Paris yesterday to work out a common strategy for the next European Union summit in Brussels at the end of June, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to give top priority for...

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders welcomed a pledge on Friday from Greece to meet creditors' demands for a broad package of economic reform proposals within days to unlock the cash Athens needs to avoid stumbling out of the euro zone. After overnight crisis talks on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the bloc's main paymaster, offered somewhat divergent understandings of how...

BERLIN: The euro group has signed off the first installment of the $13 billion financial bailout package for debt-stricken Cyprus while allocating fresh disbursements for Greece and Portugal. At the start of a two-day meeting in Brussels yesterday, the finance ministers of the 17 EU nations using the single currency released $2.6 billion (2 billion euros) for Cyprus from the rescue package agreed in March and offered to provide another $1.3 billion (1 billion euros) before...

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders welcomed a pledge on Friday from Greece to meet creditors' demands for a broad package of economic reform proposals within days to unlock the cash Athens needs to avoid stumbling out of the euro zone. After overnight crisis talks on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the bloc's main paymaster, offered somewhat divergent understandings of...

BRUSSELS: EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Friday for European governments to show solidarity with Greece and resolve a credit crunch that risks dumping it out of the euro zone. Their comments, as the bloc's German paymaster presses its demands that Athens' new leftist government honour commitments to international creditors, highlighted Juncker's concern over a risk of grave damage to the EU, but may also fuel...

By James Kanter and Liz Alderman BRUSSELS: The standoff between Greece and its European lenders appeared to reach a new low Monday as European officials handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a bailout program or risk the funding that the country needs to avoid a default. The demand appeared to be part of a strategy by eurozone creditors to get Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece and his finance minister, Yanis...

BRUSSELS: As Cyprus scrambles to stave off a bankruptcy of its banks and a possible exit from the single currency, the euro group has expressed readiness to discuss a new proposal regarding implementation of a 10 billion euros ($13 billion) bailout for Nicosia offered by EU and IMF. The new plan, which was offered here last night, is an alternative to the controversial bank levy proposed initially to raise up to 5.8 billion euros ($7.9 billion), a main condition to receive...

By James Kanter and Liz Alderman BRUSSELS: The standoff between Greece and its European lenders appeared to reach a new low Monday as European officials handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a bailout program or risk the funding that the country needs to avoid a default. The demand appeared to be part of a strategy by eurozone creditors to get Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece and his finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis,...

BERLIN: The euro zone leaders have commended the progress made by Greece in implementing far-reaching reforms to overcome its three-year-old debt crisis and hinted at the possibility of releasing 31.5 billion euros (USD 41 billion) bailout funds urgently needed to avert a bankruptcy. They indicated after their discussions at the European Union summit in Brussels that the euro group is waiting for a report of the "troika" experts of the European...

BERLIN: The heads of state and governments of the 16 eurozone nations on Friday launched a historic e110 billion financial aid package to bailout heavily indebted Greece from bankruptcy and vowed to fight speculators endangering the stability of their common currency. At an emergency meeting in Brussels, the eurozone leaders expressed concern over mounting pressure on the euro in financial markets and deplored the fact that speculators were targeting other debt-ridden nations such as...

BRUSSELS: Ireland's bailout was formally announced on Sunday at 85 billion euros (113 billion dollars), 10 billion of which is for "immediate recapitalisation" and 25 billion for contingency support to its banking sector, the head of the Euro group said. Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, announced the deal after talks in Brussels . Finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the euro currency, plus...

BERLIN: Germany and France have proposed a full-time president for the euro group as they agreed to cooperate more closely to overcome the debt crisis and to kick-start growth and job creation in the single currency area. At a meeting in Paris yesterday to work out a common strategy for the next European Union summit in Brussels at the end of June, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to give top priority for...

BERLIN: The euro group has signed off the first installment of the $13 billion financial bailout package for debt-stricken Cyprus while allocating fresh disbursements for Greece and Portugal. At the start of a two-day meeting in Brussels yesterday, the finance ministers of the 17 EU nations using the single currency released $2.6 billion (2 billion euros) for Cyprus from the rescue package agreed in March and offered to provide another $1.3 billion (1 billion euros)...

BRUSSELS: Cyprus and its euro zone partners early today reached a deal on a 10-billion euro ($ 13 billion) bailout package for the island nation to avoid bankruptcy and to keep it within the single currency group. The finance ministers of the euro zone nations agreed at an emergency meeting in Brussels to down size the banking sector to achieve the EU average by 2018 and to gradually dissolve the Laiki Bank, the country's second largest bank. Restructuring...

BRUSSELS: As Cyprus scrambles to stave off a bankruptcy of its banks and a possible exit from the single currency, the euro group has expressed readiness to discuss a new proposal regarding implementation of a 10 billion euros ($13 billion) bailout for Nicosia offered by EU and IMF. The new plan, which was offered here last night, is an alternative to the controversial bank levy proposed initially to raise up to 5.8 billion euros ($7.9 billion), a main condition to...

BERLIN: The euro zone leaders have commended the progress made by Greece in implementing far-reaching reforms to overcome its three-year-old debt crisis and hinted at the possibility of releasing 31.5 billion euros (USD 41 billion) bailout funds urgently needed to avert a bankruptcy. They indicated after their discussions at the European Union summit in Brussels that the euro group is waiting for a report of the "troika" experts of the European Union, the ...

BERLIN: The sixteen eurozone nations of the European Union on Monday agreed on an emergency plan to rescue heavily indebted Greece from bankruptcy. The finance ministers of the eurozone nations at a meeting in Brussels expressed their readiness to provide financial assistance for Greece if the Athens government's austerity measures fail to reduce the country's staggering debts of more than 300 billion euros and bring the finances under control. Luxembourg's Prime Minister...

BRUSSELS: EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Friday for European governments to show solidarity with Greece and resolve a credit crunch that risks dumping it out of the euro zone. Their comments, as the bloc's German paymaster presses its demands that Athens' new leftist government honour commitments to international creditors, highlighted Juncker's concern over a risk of grave damage to the EU, but may also fuel...

BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has for the first time ruled out the possibility of debt-stricken Greece sliding into bankruptcy or leaving the euro zone. "I think there will be no state bankruptcy in Greece," he told a meeting of the Singapore-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Singapore on Sunday. Schaeuble also holds the view that Greece, which has been surviving on two financial bailouts by the European Union and the International Monetary...

BERLIN: The eurozone nations have sealed a deal to provide rescue loans up to 100 billion euros ($122 billion) to Spain's ailing banks amid speculation that debt-laden Spanish government may also eventually seek a bailout. Finance Ministers of the 17-nation euro group finalised the details of a financial support for Spanish banks in a video conference on Friday, a day after the German parliament endorsed the rescue plan with a large majority. They shared the view that...